SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah, Oct. 1, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — A man who was critically injured in a two-alarm house fire in South Salt Lake on Sunday night has died.
South Salt Lake Fire Chief Ron Morris told Gephardt Daily that the man, who has not yet been identified, passed away at Intermountain Medical Center later Sunday night.
Morris said when the first unit arrived at 2721 S. West Temple St., the home was fully engulfed, with flames coming through the roof and front window.
“We had word that there were four people living in the home,” Morris said. “We did a preliminary search and there was one male victim.”
Morris said the man was brought out of the home in critical condition with severe burns and was taken to IMC in Murray, to be evaluated.
It appears the other three individuals were not home at the time of the fire, Morris said.
No pets were found in the home, and neighbors told firefighters they didn’t think any pets were living there.
The fire was reported shortly before 8:30 p.m., and Morris said crews accomplished the initial knockdown within about six minutes of arriving. The fire was under control within eight minutes, he said. There was no damage to adjacent buildings.
It’s still early in the investigation, and officials don’t yet know how the fire started. A specially trained dog was brought in Sunday night to see if it can detect any sign of an accelerant in the home.
Morris told Gephardt Daily that the dog was set to be at the home Monday morning too, as investigators are still searching for the cause and origin of the fire.
Firefighters from South Salt Lake, Murray, Salt Lake City and Unified Fire Authority responded to the scene, and Morris said the crews did a great job of quickly getting the blaze under control and extinguished.
Gephardt Daily will have more on this developing story as information is made available.
